The invention relates to an apparatus for use in wire harness assembly, as well as a method of preparing a formboard for assembly of a wire harness.
Conventional assembly of a wire harness employs a formboard, a layout sheet having a harness pattern thereon, and guide pins that are permanently affixed to the formboard adjacent to the harness pattern. Most typically, the formboard is a sheet of plywood, and the guide pins are nails driven into the formboard and through the layout sheet at preselected locations. Accordingly, multiple formboards are required to assemble different wire harnesses. Significant storage space is needed for the multiple formboards, and the assembly worker must manually move the large and heavy formboards into and out of storage when changing from one harness type to another. This changeover operation is time consuming and raises safety concerns.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an apparatus and method for wire harness assembly which minimizes required storage space as well as the time and labor in changing harness patterns, thereby also optimizing safety.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for use in wire harness assembly, comprising: a formboard having a face and a plurality of holes through the face; a plurality of layout sheets, each layout sheet having a harness pattern thereon, a plurality of holes corresponding to holes in the formboard, a free edge, and an opposing attached edge that is attached to the formboard, wherein the attached edges of the layout sheets are aligned with and stacked upon one another to permit selection of one layout sheet, hereafter referred to as the selected layout sheet, lying over the face of the formboard with its harness pattern exposed, the other unselected layout sheets comprising either or both of (i) at least one layout sheet under the selected layout sheet, and (ii) at least one layout sheet folded back from the selected layout sheet along the attached edge thereof; and a plurality of guide pins, each guide pin being adapted to extend through a hole in the selected layout sheet adjacent to its harness pattern, through a hole in any unselected layout sheet under the selected layout sheet, and into a corresponding hole in the formboard so as to be removably secured therein.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of preparing a formboard for assembly of a wire harness, the formboard having a face and a plurality of holes through the face, wherein the method comprises: providing a plurality of layout sheets, each layout sheet having a harness pattern thereon, a plurality of holes corresponding to holes in the formboard, a free edge, and an opposing attached edge that is attached to the formboard, wherein the attached edges of the layout sheets are aligned with and stacked upon one another; selecting one of the layout sheets for wire harness assembly, the thus selected layout sheet lying over the face of the formboard with its harness pattern exposed, and the other unselected layout sheets comprising either or both of (i) at least one layout sheet under the selected layout sheet, and (ii) at least one layout sheet folded back from the selected layout sheet along the attached edge thereof; and inserting a plurality of guide pins through respective holes in the selected layout sheet adjacent to its harness pattern, through respective holes in any unselected layout sheet under the selected layout sheet, and into holes in the formboard, corresponding to said respective holes in the selected layout sheet and any unselected layout sheet thereunder, so as to be removably secured therein.
Therefore, in accordance with the invention, multiple layout sheets with corresponding harness patterns are attached to a single formboard so as to minimize space requirements. Changing from one layout sheet to another involves simply removing any guide pins that were left in the formboard from a prior assembly, selecting the layout sheet having the desired harness pattern, and, with unselected layout sheets lying under and/or folded back from the selected sheet as described above, inserting guide pins adjacent to the newly selected harness pattern. The changeover operation requires minimal time and labor and is obviously very safe.
In a preferred embodiment hereafter described, any unselected layout sheet(s) folded back from the selected layout sheet is/are received in a holding tube, fixedly connected to the formboard adjacent to the attached edges of the layout sheets, so as to be held inside of the tube. Other preferred features include guide pins having tapered portions for being removably secured within tapered holes in the formboard, and a frame upon which the formboard is mounted for upward and downward movement by means of a motor and a mechanical linkage between the motor and formboard.